


June

by miss_nettles_wife



Series: Cherries and Wine (Marilyn Teller/Winsome Chisel) [2]
Category: Eerie Indiana
Genre: F/M, girls trip - Freeform, hotel room, time travel?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 16:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15953459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_nettles_wife/pseuds/miss_nettles_wife
Summary: Marilyn and Winsome take a trip out of town. (Written for the Eerie Indiana Com weekly prompt: Hotel Room. From like a month ago. Sorry lol)





	June

**Author's Note:**

> not sure about how much I like this. But it's okay.

Marylin Teller has always thought that Winsome Chisel did not live in their world, but rather, their world lived for Winsome Chisel. She thought like this not because of her eccentric nature, or her powerful brother but because how else could she have found this distinctly vintage and distinctly expensive hotel room in a distinctly modern hotel? Despite it’s modern surroundings, the whole place felt like it was right out of the forties.

Winsome was seated on a window seat, eating strawberries from a bowl with a small fruit fork while what she identified was rather modern music played from a large gramophone. She’d had a record player as a girl, but this was a gramophone with a crank handle and everything and she’d never seen anything like it.

She felt out of place.

She smoothed the hem of her denim and sat down on the side of the bed, which sat against a wall with a large, ornate bed head. The cloth was soft under her fingers as she traced the pattern with her fingers. Winsome looked like she fit right in, with her neat pin curls and dark nip waisted dress. In her long denim dress and white t-shirt she looked like she came from a whole other dimension. Winsome did not seem to notice.

“I wanted to thank you again, for coming with me.” She spoke up, finally. Winsome set down the empty bowl and gave her a perfectly white toothed smile.

“It’s no trouble. I haven’t been to New York since I was in college.” Winsome said, “How often do you go on a girls trip anyway?” Marilyn had not been on a Girls Trip since Syndi was a little girl, because Marshall even as a child had always kept her hands full and Edgar was always working. Since the kids got older and they moved to Eerie, she hadn’t had any girl friends to go on a trip with. She liked to keep to herself and not make a fuss, especially since all the ladies of town were…A little too odd for her liking. But she maintained a friendly relationship with others around town, she wouldn’t be a very good business woman if she didn’t.

Which wasn’t to say Winsome wasn’t odd, she also looked a bit like she slept in a giant Tupperware container, but she wasn’t constantly trying to sell her sandwich containers or Avon products, which was a pleasant change.

“It’s been a while.” She said, finally. “But it’s nice to not have to worry about cooking dinner.” She admitted.

“Of course not, that’s the beauty of staying in a hotel.” Winsome enthused.

“You didn’t have to organise all this.”

“Of course I did, where’s the joy in having money if you don’t spend it?” It was in giving it to your children, but Winsome didn’t have any children or any prospects of having them in the near future. Maybe she should set her up with one of the lovely young men that had called on her to set up parties for their mothers? Maybe one of Syndi’s friends had a brother that needed a date?

“I suppose. Sorry you don’t have a ticket to the convention.” Marylin said, bringing the subject not so subtly away from money.

“It’s alright.” Winsome said, still cheerful. “I’ve got a friend in town to see who I haven’t for a while.”

The party planning convention had been entirely sold out by the time Marilyn invited Winsome along for the trip, since Edgar had a work thing to do at the last minute and she had a plane ticket already. Edgar had no interest in parties, and had intended to work from the hotel. Winsome had a lot of interest in parties and had been excited to come along. Or at least, that’s what Marilyn suspected given the amount of them she hosted. For a shy girl, she was the life of the party.

“A college friend?” She asked, as Winsome flicked open her compact and used the puff to dab the cream coloured powder onto her face.

“Yeah, we haven’t seen each other since.” A pause, “Well, since we had a falling out.”

“Over what, if you don’t mind me asking?”  Winsome snapped shut her compact and selected a dark pink lipstick from her bag, the product was shaped like a heart.

“Secrecy. I wanted to keep a secret, she didn’t.”

“Oh.”

“These days, I think I might have over reacted. Anyway, it was a long time ago.” She said, brushing it away as she always did when subjects began to get personal. If Marilyn didn’t know better, she’d think that Winsome was hiding something from her too  “Shall we go get some dinner?”

“I think so. I know a lovely Italian place we can go.”

“Wonderful. I’ll just change into something appropriate.” Winsome smiled, and opened up the cupboard where she’d hung all her dresses in in dry cleaning bags. She grabbed one in her usual dark green, with a low cut scalloped neckline that went to her ankle and vanished into the bathroom.

The place they had intended to eat had been full, so they got something to take away. Marylin got a cabonara pasta, and Winsome picked up the same after a great deal of indecision. They returned to the room and found a place to sit. Winsome returned to the seat by the window and Marilyn found a spot at the little table in the room.

They laughed while they ate, or Winsome laughed as Marilyn regaled her with stories about the children when they were little. For some reason, she seemed very amused by Marshall waiting up for Santa and remarked that Winston had done the same as a young boy.

“I wish I had been around for any of his childhood. I didn’t see it, just what he and our stepfather tell me.” She said, after the laugher stopped. “I wonder how he might have turned out without someone elses political aspirations forced on him.”

“Where were you? College?” Surely she hadn’t been on College for his whole childhood. Even when Edgar had been in college, when Syndi was a baby, he’d made time for her. Made time for them both.

“No, I was…Away. I left during the war, and our parents had another child to keep on the family name. Not that I would have been much good for that anyway.” She said, and took a sip of wine from her glass.

The war? The second world war? Jesus, Winsome didn’t look like she was older than Mayor Chisel. In fact, she looked like she was younger. Maybe the Vietnam war, then. Yes, must be that.

“Your mother doesn’t share any stories?”

“My mother doesn’t say anything to anyone anymore.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. We weren’t close to begin with.” She assured Marilyn, before breaking out into a bright smile. “Tell me more about when Edgar took you to Prom.”

So she did.

…

The conference was nice. It was interesting to hear professionals speak. It was probably fun to network. Even so, she spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about if Winsome was having a good time or not.

She did that a lot, actually. Worry about Winsome. She was a nice girl, just so dreadfully shy. Hopefully, catching up with her friend was going well. There wasn’t much she could do if it wasn’t except offer comfort in the aftermath.

She exited her taxi and stepped up onto the pavement. Winsome had told her where she was going to dinner with her friend and to join her if she was out before seven thirty. She was. If she was leaving because it was over or because she wanted to go, she left that to be seen. She glanced through the window of the cozy little Japanese place and her eyes found Winsome right away.

She was wearing a sharp pink number that was a lot closer cut than her usual style. She was smiling widely and there was two lipstick stains on her glass of wine, one pale pink and one black. She looked at the woman sitting across from her. She was a tall woman wearing chunky boots with a boy-ish haircut. Her stockings were ripped and her jacket safety pinned. If Marylin had to guess her age, she would say perhaps fifty or a very youthful sixty. She looked like someone Todd McNulty would get along with, Marylin thought. Of course, Winsome would never associate herself with a boring person. In fact, the style reminded her of how she would dress as a teenager.

Even if her punk clashed with Winsome’s  glamour, they looked like they belonged there. They looked like they belonged together. For a second, Marilyn found herself wondering if this were where Winsome Chisel truly belonged, far away from their conservative little hometown. Far away from Marilyn Teller.

She shook it off the moment she finished thinking it. Perhaps she belonged with this woman, but she doubted Winsome would last a week without her brother. Or, more accurately, without her to organise his schedule, Winston would not last one week without her. Eerie was her home as truly as it was anyone elses.

She doesn’t get the change to ruminate on it much longer; Winsome has spotted her and motioned with one hand for her to come inside the restaurant and she did so promptly, not wanting to seem rude and keep her gracious host waiting.

“You must be Marilyn.” The woman said, as she approached. Winsome gave her a slight look that Marilyn cannot identify. She notes a ‘Queer Power’ pin on the womans bag, as well as one opposing the Vietnam War.

“Uh, yes.” She smiled, “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

“I’m Kate.” She replied, “I hear you’re to thank for getting Whinney back into the city.”

Whinney? Marilyn has never heard anyone call her Whinney before, in fact, almost everyone she has ever heard speak to Winsome has called her Miss Chisel, the exception of course being Mayor Chisel. But he calls her Winsome, rather than Whinney and he was, as far as she knew, her closest friend. Marylin herself of course excluded.

“Nice to meet you, Kate. It was sort of a last moment trip.”  Kate checked her watched and then looked back at the two of them. Marilyn couldn’t help but wonder what they other woman saw when looking at her. She probably saw what everyone else saw: A mother and housewife well out of her depth. She had known going back to work would be hard but it was harder than she thought. It was only thanks to Winsome’s constant commissions and directing her brother to her that she was able to stay afloat in a town like Eerie that didn’t have much need for someone who did parties.

“I have to teach my class soon.” Kate said, getting to her feet. “See you around.” She told Marilyn and kissed Winsome on the cheek. Winsome held onto her hand as she walked away, and then looked down at her half empty plate for a long moment.

“She seemed nice.” Marilyn said, hoping she hadn’t interrupted something.   
“She is nice.” Winsome said, looking up. “It’s been so long since we last spoke. I fear we no longer have anything in common.”   
“Friendship can be like that.” Marilyn said, taking her hand across the table. “We don’t really have a lot in common, do we? But we’re still friends.”   
“I suppose we are.” Winsome said, looking up. “I suppose we are.”


End file.
